The Pete Principles

I read the Pete Townshend article (“The Resurrection of Tommy,” by Michael Walker, July 5) with particular interest in that I’ve always been a fan of the Who’s and had the opportunity to play drums in an early-’70s USC production of “Tommy.”

What bothered me was the sense of futility Townshend expressed: “I’m not pretending here that what ‘Tommy’ can do is what I dreamed both rock and ‘Tommy’ could do in the ‘60s, which was to raise people up. I actually believed that. I think that was a mistake.”

My reply is that even if Townshend “raised” only one single soul in his entire career and gave that person a sense of a higher purpose through his own example--be it nothing more than a magic trick with amplifiers and guitars--isn’t that something?

The only mistake Townshend has made is to have somehow lost the belief that music can touch and can effect change. Without that hope, he’s denying the sense of urgency that gave his work its foundation. The younger Pete Townshend would have accused this older version of becoming a disillusioned old sod. I’ll be glad to speak for him.

JEFFREY FAYMAN

Santa Monica